Families of three murdered Colombian unionists appealed a US court decision shielding former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe from testifying in the case against coal giant Drummond, reported Noticias Uno Sunday.

A Washington D.C. federal judge decided former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe did not have to testify in the case against US coal giant Drummond last December.

Drummond was fined for using paramilitary groups as security for its operations in Colombia, and is accused of using the same forces to combat union activism through violence.

Last month former paramilitary Alcides Mattos Tabares told Colombian media Drummond had paid his group $1.5 million to murder union leaders.

The U.S.-based coal company Drummond denied any relationship with far-right death squads in Colombia and said it has no intention of settling a U.S. lawsuit that alleges its complicity in the murder of three labor leaders.

A federal judge in Alabama this month allowed a civil suit to go forward against Drummond Co. Inc. for allegedly paying a hit squad to kill three union leaders at one of its Colombian mines in 2001.

Colombia's chief prosecutor on Tuesday also announced a formal criminal investigation into allegations Drummond, based in Birmingham, Alabama, had ties with the paramilitaries.

~snip~
Colombia is embroiled in its worst political scandal in decades as revelations continue to emerge tying the country's political class _ many of them backers of President Alvaro Uribe _ to the paramilitaries, which have trafficked extensively in cocaine, committed massacres and stolen millions of hectares (acres) of land from peasants.

The U.S.-based coal company Drummond denied any relationship with far-right death squads in Colombia and said it has no intention of settling a U.S. lawsuit that alleges its complicity in the murder of three labor leaders.

A federal judge in Alabama this month allowed a civil suit to go forward against Drummond Co. Inc. for allegedly paying a hit squad to kill three union leaders at one of its Colombian mines in 2001.

Colombia's chief prosecutor on Tuesday also announced a formal criminal investigation into allegations Drummond, based in Birmingham, Alabama, had ties with the paramilitaries.

~snip~
Colombia is embroiled in its worst political scandal in decades as revelations continue to emerge tying the country's political class _ many of them backers of President Alvaro Uribe _ to the paramilitaries, which have trafficked extensively in cocaine, committed massacres and stolen millions of hectares (acres) of land from peasants.